Do Muslims have an unfair reputation in America?

DISCLAIMER: THIS BLOG WRITTEN ON 14 JULY 2019 MAY BE CONTROVERSIAL.
CONTROVERSY ASIDE, IT IS ONLY MY OPINION AND DOES NOT REPRESENT ANYONE ELSE’S
OPINION. GIVEN THE CONTROVERSIAL NATURE OF THIS POST, IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO GIVE
A PERSON WITH A DISSETING OPINION A BREAK, DO NOT READ THIS. IT MAY RESULT IN
HURT FEELINGS OR BEING BUTTHURT. THANK YOU.

It is coming a tsunami here in North Mississippi, and I figured I would take the time to peruse Facebook. To my shock (and a moment of joy) a friend of mine from my days in Germany had friend requested me. Happily, I accepted his request. While flipping through the various memes and scattered news of the day, I came upon a meme that asked several questions such as this: Why is it when a Jew grows a beard, he is practicing his religion, whereas if a Muslim grows one, he is labeled an extremist? The list of questions went on, but the point the meme seemed to be making is there is a double standard in America. To be honest, it made my gears engage. So, the question is this: Do Muslims have a bad reputation in the land of the free? If so, why do they have this reputation?

I would say yes, for the most part. Muslims do get a bad reputation due to the actions of the extremist in their religion. Trust me, if all Muslims were bad, we would know it. 1.6 BILLION Muslims is the last count that I had when I still attended college. If all 1.6 BILLION were extremist, the entire planet would have their hands full trying to deal with this issue. As with all societal/religious issues there are several instances that would have us believing all Muslims are bad. First, there is the matter of extremism. You see them on television, their faces are masked, and they are calling upon Allah to help them destroy the infidels. The knife comes down and someone pays the price for extremist beliefs. This reinforces the belief that all Muslims are evil and seeking the death of all who refuse to accept their religion.

As with all things, you can’t judge an entire religion or group of people based on their religious sect, race or political leanings. Well, you can but you are missing the forest for the trees. In no manner of speaking is every black person a thug, not every Latin American an illegal immigrant, nor is every white person a former slave owner. Neither is every Muslim a suicide bomber or extremist. It never fails to amaze me how people quickly individuals choose sides and take an “us vs. them” mentality. However, the lunatic fringe in the Muslim religion does make the entire religious order seem to foster extremism. This is compounded by the failure of those not radicalized refusing to renounce extremism in their religion.

Now before people start throwing stones and shouting about
Christianity did the same thing back during the time of the Crusades and
Inquisitions, I do understand that point. However, if you read the Bible, you
will find that at no point does the Bible instruct its followers to kill
themselves or others to appease Jesus Christ. Instead, it tells us to love one
another, and to follow Him. Forgiveness is found throughout the Bible. I
digress.

The differences in our cultures keep us apart. I would explain it as such: the Middle East is a male-centric society, whereas America is co-ed. I know, the feminist would have you believe that America is a male-centric society but it’s not. If a woman rose to power in the Middle East, all hell would break loose. She would quickly be beheaded or stoned. In America, women run for office, exercise authority in various leadership positions and its normal for them to live their life how they choose. This is a major roadblock in why Muslims’ seem to get an unfair shake in the land of the free. It is my opinion that the Muslim religion refuses to acclimate to the society that they chose to integrate into. It’s their choice, but you can’t blame society for your failure to adapt to the environment you immigrated to. If life is so great where you came from, why did you leave?

As stated in the disclaimer, this is only my opinion.

The reason that so many people are willing to label the entire religion of Islam extremist is because of the failure to cast off and denounce their extremist fringe. Instead of helping law enforcement root out the bad seed, they clam up and refuse to help. When I was in Iraq, we had interpreters who were Islamic and they were very helpful, but for everyone that helps the rest of the community clams up. Therefore, it seems that you support what is occurring when you refuse to assist in the removal of the fringe element. This may not be the case, but how are we supposed to know if you don’t tell us? Given the refusal to assist, it leaves the bulk of society feeling that you are here for hostile purposes. Which in turn leads to everyone that is not part of your religion assuming you have a hidden agenda. We become suspicious of your intentions.

This meme pointed out several things, however, it assumed that it is the beard, and head covering that people have an issue with. This simply is not the case. No one cares if you grow a beard or wear a burqa. It is the violent actions that separate us. What violent actions am I speaking of? Let’s look at some extremist actions: There is the Orlando nightclub, the repeated attacks in France, Belgium, and now the recent church burnings in France (they refuse to lay the blame on the Islamic population, but it is in keeping with the extremist views and actions of Muslim extremist.) These types of actions cause Western society to take a wait and see approach to Islamic immigrants. These actions are the catalyst of why people remain suspicious of those who practice Islam.